1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of information handling system networking, and more particularly to a system and method for managing information handling system wireless wide area network provisioning.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems have become a valuable tool for businesses and individuals to communicate. For instance, e-mail, instant messaging and web-based solutions have replaced the telephone as the most common media for communicating within an office environment and are rapidly replacing the telephone as customers' preferred way to communicate with businesses. One difficulty with communication media that rely on information handling systems is that an information handling system typically is tied to a networking environment in order to support such media. When an individual is away from his desk, the individual cannot typically retrieve messages sent to a desktop information handling system. Some flexibility exists with mobile information handling systems that support wireless local area networks (WLANs), however, WLANs typically have a restricted range. Although wireless hotspots have sprung up around airports and hotels frequented by travelers, such hotspots are often not secure and sometimes have access fees collected by a variety of vendors. An alternative that provides greater accessibility and security is wireless wide area networks (WWANs) that use cellular telephone network transceivers to establish a network connection. WWANs have coverage that compares with cellular telephone coverage and generally supports fairly high bandwidth communication. Information handling system users purchase a WWAN networking card, such as a PCMCIA card, that establishes connection with a desired network and pay an access fee to that network provider.
One difficulty with the use of WWANs supported by cellular telephone networks is that the user typically has to install a networking application of the network provider and establish an account with the network provider before the WWAN networking card will work. In order to establish an account, the user typically must pass a credit check, provision the account and activate the account. Provisioning involves an account plan selection and the loading of customer information into the WWAN, such as a SIM ICCID that identifies the user's WWAN transceiver. Activation occurs when the user commits to liability for the provisioned account. Often, activation involves a telephone call by the user to the network provider with associated call-queue phone hold times. In some cases, activation is delayed by a day or even longer while the network provider performs a credit check and provisions the network to accept the user's transceiver with an associated account. Increased delays can occur when an error occurs in the activation process, such as mismatch of identification codes that permit network access. Difficulties that arise with a user's provisioning and activation that result in delays or failures by the user to interface with the WWAN sometimes result in user calls to the information handling system manufacturer for technical support. Such requests for technical support increase manufacturer costs and negatively impact the user experience. In addition, inaccurate tracking of card-specific information that leads to such difficulties negatively impacts the information handling system manufacturer's revenue from sales of network provider services.